Scalene
by Violet-Amy
Summary: Everybody is smitten. (Archie/Veronica smut with one-sided Veronica/Betty crushing.) Sequel to Five Minutes, Eighteen Seconds.


Everyone trying out for the cheerleading team is a freshman, except for Veronica and a pretty blonde girl named Betty. While they're waiting for their turns to audition, Veronica remarks, "It's weird, right? I thought maybe being a freshman was a requirement."

"Oh, but you're a transfer. From New York no less, so no stigma there," Betty says.

"If you already know my origin story, I'm guessing you're _not_ new here too."

"No. I tried out last year and Cheryl turned me down. There were a bunch of us who she said were 'too pure' to ever be River Vixens. Every one of them except me was smart enough to realize that trying again is futile."

Veronica studied her. "Well, you don't seem stupid to me. So...maybe you're going to show Cheryl you're not so pure anymore?"

Betty scowls and shakes a pompom in Veronica's face. "How 'pure' I am or am not has no bearing on whether I can do a cheerleading routine. _And_ it's nobody's business. And no, I'm not stupid enough to think Cheryl's going to change her mind and let me on the team. I'm here because I've been practicing, and I am going to do a kick-ass audition, and if Cheryl is going to reject me again I want everyone see that it's _her_ problem, not mine."

"Sorry," Veronica says. "I was just trying to make a joke. You're absolutely right. And I wasn't funny at all."

Betty glares at her for a moment, and there's a glint in her eye just before she cracks a smile. "I'm too quick to take offense sometimes. It's not like my life won't be complete without being a River Vixen. I just get worked up about injustice."

"Especially when you're the victim of it?" Veronica prods. She means it teasingly and hopes it comes off that way.

Betty seems to really consider it as a serious question. "I'd like to think not. But probably, I guess. I mean, I'm only human. I probably wouldn't be this outraged about a stranger being _unjustly_ denied a spot on the cheerleading team." She laughs then, and it's pretty much the cutest laugh Veronica has ever heard.

Betty's tryout is next, and she's absolutely flawless. Well, from what Veronica can tell, anyway. She's watching from the back of the gym, so she can't see Betty's face, which is a shame, but she does get plenty of glimpses of Betty's cute little butt with the cheerleading skirt flying up all the time.

Veronica is up right after Betty, and she tries to focus on the routine and not how hot Betty looked when she was doing hers...how hot she still looks, slightly flushed as she watches Veronica perform.

"Brava," Cheryl calls out after she's done. "Of course you're pretty much guaranteed a spot on the team just based on your reputation, but the fact that you can actually move is a nice bonus."

"My...reputation?" Veronica asks. "I _just_ moved to this town."

"Yes, and the first thing you became known for is your seven...well, more like _seventeen_ minutes in heaven at my party. Oh, don't worry, it's a good thing, at least since you want to be a River Vixen. It's very motivating for the players to have girls who are easy lays cheering them on."

Veronica just stands there sputtering. There's been some whispering about her and Archie at school, but up until now it's been discreet enough that she was able to convince herself it was all in her imagination. While she's still speechless, Betty marches up to the table that Cheryl and her co-captain are sitting at. "That is enough, Cheryl! Cheerleading is a _sport_ , it's not an opportunity for you to publicly pass judgment on your classmates' sexual activity or lack of sexual activity. It's bad enough when guys do this to us; I can't understand why girls want to do it to each other!"

"Oh, calm down, Saint Elizabeth. I was going to offer you a spot on the team too."

Betty hesitates. "You were? ... That's not the point, Cheryl!" Without waiting for a response, she storms off.

Everyone else is quiet, just watching her go, until Cheryl's minion asks, "You weren't serious about letting her join, were you?"

Cheryl shrugs. "Mais oui. Some of the guys, it turns out, like a challenge."

Veronica runs after Betty and catches up with her in the hallway outside the gym. Walking briskly alongside her, she says, "Thanks for standing up for me."

"I'm sure you didn't need me to," Betty says. "Cheryl just makes me so mad sometimes!"

"But listen. I'm new here, so having someone willing to take my side means a lot to me. So thank you."

Betty slows down for a second and looks at her. "You're welcome."

Veronica figures this is as good a time as any to make a move. "Would you like to get some coffee with me?"

"Oh, thanks, but I can't. I'm super sensitive to caffeine and if I have any after about two o'clock I can't get to sleep at night and then I'm exhausted in all my classes the next day."

"Well, you could order—"

"Maybe some other time, like some morning? But I'll see you tomorrow at Vixens practice, right?"

"You're going to join after all that?"

"Like I'd give Cheryl the satisfaction of not! You're going to too, aren't you?"

Veronica had been thinking it wouldn't be worth it, putting up with the psycho head cheerleader from hell, but now that Betty is looking at her so hopefully she finds herself answering, "Absolutely. I'll see you tomorrow then." And she stands there in the hall watching Betty march off after giving her a friendly wave good-bye.

She's just about a block from home when she gets a text from an unknown number: "Want to get a malt at pops". It's followed a second later by another text that's simply: "?" It's so cute, she thinks, that Betty would send that extra text with just the question mark, just in case Veronica might think she was being too pushy otherwise! Not that Veronica would actually mind Betty being a little pushy with her, but Betty can't really know that yet. Also, and more importantly...Betty wants to see her again! As soon as she realized that Veronica's suggestion didn't mean literally _coffee_ , she wanted to go for it! Veronica is all set to reply in the affirmative when one more text comes through: "This is Archie btw".

Oh. Of course it's Archie. Veronica didn't even give Betty her phone number, duh.

She's a little disappointed, but only because she foolishly got her expectations unreasonably high regarding Betty. Betty _just_ turned down her date invitation. Even if it was because she didn't recognize it for what it was, that's not a good sign. If Betty didn't recognize it for what it was, then there's a good chance she's not into girls and Veronica's interest in her is hopeless. Veronica thought she was picking up an into-girls vibe from Betty, but honestly her gaydar isn't that great. It seems to be based on wishful thinking more than anything.

Archie, though. Archie is definitely into girls.

And Veronica is into him. She hasn't really gotten a chance to get to know him yet outside that closet, but _inside_ that closet she discovered some amazing talent. And there were those hints at other interesting things, like his safeword comment.

And the question mark text really is cute.

Archie tries not to stare at his phone waiting for a reply. Veronica is probably busy. He can't expect her to drop everything for him. It's just...he's been thinking about her pretty much constantly since the party. He'd hoped they would run into each other at school, but he's only seen her from far away. They don't have any classes together; maybe she's a junior or even a senior?

He's pretty sure he pleased her at the party though. She was _so_ wet, like even before he started. And she just kept getting wetter and wetter, and, sure, some of that was probably his own spit, but his own spit couldn't produce that powerful scent that can only come from a girl who's super turned on. And she pulled his hair super hard when she came, and it's almost like she knew what that would do to him (although how could she? but then again maybe Archie is easier to read than he realizes, at least for someone as smart as Veronica), and Archie almost thought he was going to come without even touching himself.

He didn't, luckily. A part of him sort of wishes Veronica had seen him do that, but he barely knows her yet and he's not sure what she would have done. He jerked off a bunch of times as soon as he gotb back to his room at home, once or twice imagining letting Veronica see him come in his pants, but mostly just reliving exactly what actually happened.

Finally his phone dings! (Actually it's been less than ten minutes since his final text, he realizes when he sees the time.) He's almost scared to look in case it turns out to be a text from anyone other than Veronica, but he does look, and it is her! And it says, "Why don't you pick me up in an hour?"! And then a few seconds later there's another text with an address, probably the address where she lives!

Arhcie runs to the bathroom, combs his hair, brushes his teeth, and then runs down the stairs and out the front door. Then it occurs to him that on the off chance Veronica lets him go down on her again, she might not want to feel his stubble (if he has any), so he runs back upstairs to shave. Then back down the stairs. Then back up once more for a new shirt, partly because he's worried he might be sweaty, but mostly because he realizes it's only a ten-minute bike ride to the address she gave, if that, and he wants to kill a little time to avoid being ridiculously early.

He ends up being ridiculously early anyway. Even though he walked instead of riding his bike, it's barely more than thirty minutes since she said to give her an hour.

The building is this super fancy apartment building that Archie has never been in. Every time he's been past it he's wondered what kind of people would live in a place like that. Most rich people in Riverdale have houses—or estates, even, if they're Blossoms. His dad once told him it was probably full of people who were rich but too old to take care of a yard and stuff. Obviously that's not Veronica! Though he can't picture her pushing around a lawn mower, that's for sure. Anyway, Archie can see from peeking through the glass doors that there's a huge lobby that's nicer than his house, and he could just go in and wait, but he doesn't want to be conspicuous. So he just kind of paces around outside and hopes no one calls the cops on him for loitering.

When it's finally been an hour since Veronica's text, he walks into the lobby, trying to act confident but probably failing. He's immediately greeted by a butler! Or probably just a doorman, but he's dressed how Archie imagines butlers dress. The butler/doorman asks if he's Mr. Andrews, here to see Miss Lodge, and escorts him up to the third floor. Veronica opens the door, and she and the butler/doorman exchange pleasantries or whatever, but Archie isn't really listening. He's way too distracted by how Veronica looks.

She's got on this little black dress and pearls and some of those super tall high heels, like she's going to a party or something. Archie's a little confused about why she's so dressed up, but he doesn't really care, he just cares that she looks fucking _amazing_. The dress hugs her figure really tight and shows off all her curves. It's got a low neck that shows off her cleavage, and he's pretty sure she can't be wearing any panties or there'd be a line. And the shoes are, like...if they were boots they'd pretty much be dominatrix gear. "You look so...good," he eventually manages to say.

"Thank you," Veronica says, and she spins around, and wow. No panty line, definitely.

Remembering they're supposed to be going out, Archie looks down at his own outfit, high tops and jeans and a cotton henley. "Pop's isn't really that fancy," he says apologetically. "We could go somewhere else if you want, but then I'd have to go home and change."

"Or we could just stay in," Veronica suggests. "I'm pretty sure there's ice cream in the freezer if that's what you're hungry for. Personally I could go for something else."

 _Oh god!_

Archie takes a step toward her. "Yeah?" he asks, willing his voice not to break. This is his opening, he can't blow it! "I've been wondering about that a lot."

"Wondering about what?"

"Well, like, at the party? You said you wanted to do things to me. But actually you didn't do anything to me, I did stuff to you. And I'm not complaining at all, I loved that so much, but I'm just curious if there was other stuff you had in mind when you said that."

Veronica takes a step forward too, and now they're close enough that he can feel her body heat. "Just idle curiosity?"

"Not totally idle," he admits. "I'd probably let you do whatever it is."

"Well, I'm curious about something too. And not just idly. Why do you have a safeword?"

"Hmm?"

"You mentioned that you hadn't told me your safeword, which leads me to believe you have one. So my question is why."

"Oh, well a safeword is so..." God, was he really stupid enough to mention safewords when they first met? What's she going to think when she finds out what they're for!? But maybe she'll think it's hot. Or at least, if she freaks out he can just say he read about them on Wikipedia or something. "Like, if two people are playing a game or something—like, just for fun!—and one of them ties the other one up and the person who's tied up goes, 'No, let me go!' it might just be part of the game and they don't really want to be let go, but then the safeword is like a code word that both people know if the tied up person says it, they really mean they want to stop."

Veronica looks confused for a second, and he's about to apologize for not explaining it well—it's not like he's an expert or anything—but then she gets this gleam in her eye and asks, "So you like to be tied up?"

"Um." Archie was definitely not trying to imply that...even though he really actually does. "That's just one example of what a safeword can be used for."

"I know that. I'm asking if you, Archie Andrews, like to be tied up."

"Uh..." Should he lie? But what if she _is_ into it? "I mean, I've done it. But I like plenty of regular things too!"

"Mm-hmm." Veronica looks him up and down, and he actually wonders if she's picturing him tied up. And if so, what does the mental image do for her? All she says is, "I'm afraid I have zero expertise in bondage."

"It's okay! It was mostly the other person's idea anyway, and I like normal stuff too, so..."

"Wait, so, are you saying you _didn't_ like it? Because I'll try to put the idea out of my head if that's the case. But if you _do_ like it..."

Archie ducks his head a little. "You don't think it's weird and freaky?"

"Okay, first of all, _freaky_ isn't a bad thing in my book." Veronica places her finger under Archie's chin and nudges it until he's looking at her face. "I think I'd be into it. I'm just warning you that I don't have the equipment or the expertise to do much right now." Veronica studies him again. He realizes his chest is beating super hard and wonders if Veronica can tell. She continues, "I do have some scarves, though, and I think I could manage to tie your hands behind your back. If you want."

Archie sucks in a deep breath. "Yeah. Um...yeah."

"Then follow me." As Veronica turns, she hooks her finger under the collar of Archie's t-shirt, and she pulls him along behind her to the bedroom.

The walk to the bedroom isn't long or anything, but it does give Archie time to wonder if this is such a good idea. He barely knows Veronica. He's probably stronger than her, but if he's tied up, she could do literally anything to him. The fact that there's actual danger involved is...it's so fucking hot. His brain knows that it shouldn't be hot, but his dick is blissfully unaware.

At least his brain is functioning enough to send a quick text to Betty. And it's functioning enough to tell Veronica, the second she closes the bedroom door behind them, "My safeword is _jellybean_. So if I say _jellybean_ you have to untie me. Okay?"

" _Jellybean_ , got it. But really I don't think we know each other well enough yet to rely on that. If you tell me to untie you, I'm going to untie you." She hesitates. "That won't ruin it for you, will it?"

"Oh. Yeah, that's probably a good idea. I mean, no, it won't ruin anything." He considers telling her about the text he just sent, but he doesn't want her to think he doesn't trust her.

"Good. So, shall I get a scarf?"

Archie nods, his mouth too dry to answer out loud. Veronica turns away from him and walks toward the dresser, and it occurs to Archie that he could run for it. He doesn't actually want to—in fact, he wants very much to be right where he is—but nonetheless it occurs to him that he _could_.

Veronica spends a long time rummaging about in her drawer, and the suspense just about kills Archie. Are they actually doing this?

Finally she returns, threading a narrow strip of blue silk through her fingers. It's strange that something so insubstantial seems so powerful...makes Veronica look so powerful...even though there's a look of slight uncertainty on her face. She's never done this before, Archie remembers. He's not used to being the more experienced person, and he's not quite sure how to handle it. "Do you want me to..." he starts.

"Hands behind your back, Andrews." Archie complies immediately, instinctively dropping his head at the same time, as Veronica circles around behind him. He feels the silk wind several times around his wrists before she ties it. "That's not too tight?" she asks.

"No." It's definitely not too tight; he'd know right away if it were. Tentatively he tries moving his arms, curious if she tied him up too _loosely_.

She didn't. He can move his arms a couple inches in either direction, but he'd have a legitimately tough time getting free without help.

They're really doing this now. Archie's heart rate speeds way up. All the extra blood is going straight to his dick.

Veronica places her hands on his hips. The gesture make him think about her fucking him from behind. She can't do that, obviously, but she does take a step forward so that she's pressed up against his ass, and she asks, "What should I do with you now?"

He's not sure if it's a rhetorical question, but when she doesn't say anything else, he guesses he should answer. "Anything you want."

"Oh, Archie," she says, "you really have to be more careful with people you barely know."

Yeah. Yeah, he probably should be. "Just don't hurt me," he amends. He almost adds _much_ but doesn't. He probably really should wait until he knows her better for that.

"No pain. Got it." She slides her hands under his shirt and drags her nails up his sides so lightly it makes him shiver. Then onto his chest, though more fingertips than nails now. She caresses his nipples and even squeezes them a bit, but still lightly. He actually wishes she would squeeze a little harder, pinch them even, but he doesn't feel like it's his place to make requests, and anyway she doesn't linger there very long.

She walks around in front of him and pushes his shirt up to his armpits and just ogles his chest. Forgetting for a second that his hands are tied behind his back, he tries to grab the shirt and pull it over his head to help her out. The mild jolt to his shoulders reminds him that he can't do that. "Tsk, tsk," Veronica says with a tiny smirk. She reaches for him slowly, so slowly that he has time to wonder what she's going to do.

What she does is methodically undress him from the waist down, starting with his belt, then his shoes, pants, underwear, and finally socks. She doesn't speak while she's doing it, and she doesn't touch him more than necessary, though she does hold a hand against him to help him keep his balance when he has to lift his feet.

And then he's just...naked. Except for his shirt, but the way it's pushed up to his armpits sort of makes him feel _more_ exposed than if it were gone altogether.

And of course the scarf binding his wrists together.

Veronica, she's still fully dressed. She still has her stilettos on...she still has her _pearls_ on, for god's sake.

She circles him several times, just looking, not touching, but so close he can feel her breath, her body heat. She doesn't speak, and Archie doesn't dare to either. It's so quiet in the room that he thinks she can probably hear his heart thumping.

When she stops she's behind him again, same fucking-him-from-behind position as earlier. This time he can feel the fabric of her dress against his ass. It's rougher than it looks...almost scratchy. She does the thing with her fingernails up his side again, only not as lightly. She brings them down again along his back this time instead of his chest, and she moves away enough that she can scratch them down over his ass. He thinks for a second that maybe she's going to put one inside, but she keeps going, down the backs of his thighs and then slowly back up the fronts of them.

Having her behind him is almost like being blindfolded. Even though she hasn't made any surprise moves so far, he's in constant suspense about what she's going to do next. He has certain hopes, based on the movement of her hands toward his dick...but those hopes are dashed as she flattens her palms against his hips and brings them across his torso.

"You have nice abs," she says, and it's been so long since she said anything that the words make him jump.

"Thanks," he says, reflexively tightening them under her hands.

"And your cock," she says, noticeably aspirating the final _k_ -sound. "I wonder if it's still as hard as it was a minute ago."

It is—maybe even harder—but Archie's not sure if she's asking him an actual question. He hopes she plans to find out for herself, but of course he doesn't suggest it.

Veronica walks around so she's in front of him again and looks him up and down. Every time her gaze falls on his cock he feels it twitch. Finally she asks, "How do you propose to get me off, all tied up like that?"

Archie drops awkwardly to his knees, narrowly avoiding losing his balance and ending up face-first on the floor. "With my mouth?" he suggests, peering up at her. It's really the only answer. His mouth is already watering in anticipation.

"Hmm. You _are_ very good at that. But..."

"But?"

"But, on second thought, I don't think I'm going to let you touch me at all this time."

"Oh." To say Archie is disappointed would be a major understatement, but he tries not to let on. Instead he tries to guess what she has in mind, but he comes up empty. "I don't know how to get you off without touching you at all," he admits. "I'm sorry."

"You don't have to be sorry for not knowing how to do the impossible," she says. "Like I said, I changed my mind."

"Why? I mean...if you don't mind me asking."

"Because you look so good on your knees like that, and it's a sight I can only appreciate properly from a few feet away."

Archie sits back on his heels and lowers his head. He hopes she'll like him in that position even more.

Veronica crouches down and lifts his chin so he's looking at her. He's worried that means she _doesn't_ like the position, until she says, "Such a good boy, Archiekins." She clamps her mouth shut then and is quiet for a minute before asking, "Was that too weird a thing to say?"

Archie's not sure. He thinks it was a little weird, but he's also pretty sure he liked it. So not _too_ weird, he guesses, and he shakes his head no.

"Do you want to watch me? Since you've been so good, I think you deserve that at least."

Archie nods. He really, really wants to see her body. She's still completely dressed now, and even at the party she was mostly dressed the whole time, plus it was too dark to really see much.

She disappoints him again, though, by not taking off anything. She sits, fully clothed, on the edge of the bed; her legs are parted, and her skirt is really short, and it seems like Archie _should_ be able to see up it, but for some reason he can't _quite_ , and it's driving him crazy. She looks him directly in the eye as she caresses her own chest, and he thinks maybe she's at least going to let him see a breast, but she doesn't, not even a quick flash of one. He thinks he's finally going to catch a glimpse of something when she reaches up under her skirt, but no. That is, he can see a little more thigh where her skirt rides up a bit, but her arm blocks everything else.

She's teasing him like this on purpose, he's almost positive, and there's absolutely nothing he can do about it.

Nothing but take what she's giving him, that is, namely the opportunity to watch her. Even if he can't see any part of her body that he couldn't see at school or anywhere else, he is getting to witness something amazingly intimate. She's got one hand moving fast between her legs, and one hand groping and squeezing her own breasts over the clothes. She's looking at him less and less now because every so often she has to close her eyes, and she's not talking to him but she's making these little moans, like not loud ones for his benefit but quiet little almost private ones. Archie still wishes he could see more skin, and he especially wishes he were the one making her feel this way, but it's still totally amazing.

She locks eyes with him one last time before dropping her head back and wailing. For a couple seconds she's still except for one hand moving furiously between her legs, and then suddenly it's the opposite: she's holding her hand still and moving her entire body around it. She clamps her legs tight and rolls onto her side, humping her own hand hard while gasping and screaming. The sight and the sound of her like that—Archie's pretty sure he can even _smell_ her, even from across the room—it leaves Archie aching and whining.

Archie tries to keep still while Veronica lies in a heap on the bed catching her breath. He understands why she's all relaxed and content now, but he's anything but. He wonders if she's going to leave him in this state, just untie him and tell him to get dressed and send him on his way. If she does, he wonders how he can make it all the way back to his house without jerking off...or, in fact, _if_ he can.

After what feels like a really long time (but probably isn't), Veronica stands up and straightens her clothes and her hair. Well, she tries, but her hair is still mussed. It kills Archie...the fact that she looks mostly put together again, but there's that one little sign still of how she just came, writhing and screaming, right in front of him. As if reading his thoughts—though probably actually just by coincidence—she stands in front of him and ruffles his hair. "How are you doing, Archiekins?"

"Good," he squeaks.

"You do look good on your knees, but now it's awkward for me..."

Before Archie can ask what she means, she's gotten down on her own knees behind him. "I'm sorry," he says.

Veronica shushes him and pulls him into the "up" kneeling position. She glides her hands over torso and asks, "Do you want to come too?"

"Please!" he gasps, leaning forward into her touch.

"None of that, though," she says, pushing him gently back. "You have to stay still."

"Okay."

"I'm going to touch you very lightly. If you really need to come, it'll be enough."

"Okay," he says, biting back a whine.

And then she does the fingernail thing again, super lightly, up his thighs. He's going to cry, he thinks, if she bypasses his dick again.

She doesn't. She touches it this time, but just _barely_ , and this time he can't bite back his whine. He'll never get to come like this, not if he's not allowed to move and if this is all she's going to do.

Before he actually starts to cry in frustration, she applies a tiny bit of actual pressure to his balls with her fingertips. He almost cries anyway, but at least it's in relief this time. Though not _that_ much relief, as she continues to move her fingers agonizingly slowly and lightly up his shaft, over the slit, back down to his balls again...It's too much and it's not enough and Archie can't take it, and he whispers, "Please, Miss Lodge."

She stops moving her hand at all, and Archie is terrified that he's ruined everything. But then she strokes him once with the palm of her hand, and it's way better than just fingertips, and then she actually wraps her hand all the way around his dick. When she moves her hand up and down his shaft it's nothing you could call _jerking_ , exactly, but it's enough. It's enough that he can't help but move his hips a little, praying it won't make her stop because he literally cannot help it. It's enough that in less than a minute he's biting down on his lip and shooting blasts of warm come up his chest.

Veronica rubs his back with her free hand. "Good boy," she tells him. "I knew you could come for me."

Archie leans his head back against her and closes his eyes while he catches his breath. "Thank you," he says.

"You got some on my hand," Veronica says.

"Sorry!" Archie tries to reach for her hand, but of course his own are still tied behind his back. Figuring it must be what she's getting at, he opens his mouth and extends his tongue.

"That's okay, sweetie," Veronica says, and she startes to untie him, adding, "Unless you're into that."

"I mean, not exactly," he says. He's never tasted his own spunk before and thinks it sounds kind of gross, actually. "But I would do it if you want me to."

"Oh, Archiekins." She finally gets the last knot or whatever undone, and Archie immediately stretches and does circles with his arms. They don't hurt, exactly, but it feels really good to be able to move them again. "How are you doing?" Veronica asks.

"Amazing," Archie answers truthfully. "You?"

"Also amazing. But I'm not the one who might be expected to be sore."

"Sore? Nah. Maybe a tiny bit, but it was worth it."

"Mm-hmm. Just tell me where," Veronica says, and she starts to massage one of his shoulders.

Part of Archie wants to protest that it's not necessary, but the part of him that really likes it wins out, and he lets her keep going until he's in a near stupor. Finally he notices her flexing and unflexing her fingers and realizes that now _she's_ sore, and he says, "I'm good now, really. Thank you."

Veronica kisses him on the side of the head and stands up. She wipes the back of her hand off on the hem of his shirt—even though most of the come must have soaked into her skin already—and asks, "Do you want that ice cream now?"

After Archie gets dressed again and Veronica fixes her hair, they have ice cream in the kitchen—neither of them felt like going all the way to Pop's. Veronica is about to ask Archie whether he's even aware that he called her "Miss Lodge" when Archie's phone rings. He looks at it and tells her apologetically, "If I don't answer this my friend is gonna keep calling."

"By all means," Veronica says, waving with her arm to indicate he can go in the next room if he wants privacy.

Archie stays where he is, though. He answers, "I'm up!" Then there's a short series of _yeahs_ and _uh-huhs_ before he ends with, "Okay, thanks, Betty. Later!"

"That was Betty!?" Veronica asks before realizing how rude it is that she's just admitted to eavesdropping.

Archie doesn't seem to take offense, he just says, "Yeah, you've met her?"

"I met _a_ Betty at school," Veronica says cautiously.

"Well, she's the only one in the school."

Veronica can't believe she's only remembering just this minute that Archie mentioned a girl named Betty that night at the party. _The_ girl named Betty, apparently. "She's the girl next door. The one you kissed." Her stomach drops. What has she done?

"The girl next door who I _didn't_ kiss," Archie corrects her.

"Oh. Right." Veronica thinks maybe it's not _so_ bad.

Until, that is, Archie adds, "I mean, she has a crush on me apparently. But I told her...I mean, I let her down gently. It's not her, it's me. I told her that."

Shit, there goes Veronica's stomach again. "But you're still friends?" she asks. "I mean she calls you just to...Why did she call you, by the way? Why did you tell her you're 'up'?" Veronica's being totally nosy and rude, but she really needs to know.

"Oh." Archie's cheeks redden. "I sent her a text and asked her to call me in an hour. Just so, like...I mean, don't be offended, but just in case something went wrong with what we were doing here..."

"Oh my god, you told her about this!?"

"No! I just told her I was going to take a nap and asked her to call to make sure I woke up. I swear!"

"Oh." Veronica doesn't doubt that Archie's telling her the truth, but it doesn't make sense. "Why _didn't_ you tell her where you really are? If you hadn't answered, it's not like she would know where to send the police."

Archie looks like that thought never occurred to him. After a minute he says, "I guess you're right. I just didn't want to tell her because...I mean, yeah, we're friends, but she still has feelings for me so I didn't want her to have to hear about...you know..."

Yeah, Veronica knows. Fuck. _Fuck_!

She takes Archie's hand. "Archie...Betty is my friend too. Or...I want her to be." Ideally more than a friend, but if that's not on the table, as seems to be the case, then Veronica does still really want friendship with her. "She's the first girl I've met here who I think I _could_ become friends with. So..."

"So you don't want to do _this_ anymore with me," Archie fills in for her, not meeting her eye.

"I'm sorry, Archie. Believe me, it's not you."

Archie nods sadly. "Betty was right. That's really no consolation at all."


End file.
